I picked up this group of War Gum Cards primarily becasue they looked different than the others I've seen. Are these cards damaged or perhaps not all the colors were applied in the printing process? Are they common to find like this?

Thanks,
Greg

They are make ready sheets. Back in the old days, the ink was added one pass at a time through the press. First you would run the black, then the other three colors. They call it CMYK for Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-blacK. The cards you have got the black and Yellow, and didn't get the Cyan or Magenta. Maybe your sheet was damaged and they set it aside, or the colors weren't lined up well. Maybe the backs are not on the reverse. It could have been left over for a variety of different reasons. I'm surprised they got cut down to card size, such sheets are usually tossed. They still make fun collectable items though. Somewhere out there, you can be the other 100 or so to the set are out there in the same condition. The sheet had the complete set, and probably a few doubles to make it even.

Greg, I think they are very cool add-ons to your War Gum set. But if you decide you don't want em -- incomplete as they are -- I'll be happy to dispose of them for you!

I think I remember having read a post, once (by Kevin Saucier?) which indicated that cards like these can also be the result of someone having removed some of the print color runs. Dunno how you can selectively do that, though . . . Kevin?

I said earlier that it was safe to assume the other 100 or so cards in the series were also out there somewhere in this (limited color) condition. But I take that back. Since this series was issued in batches of different series, and the images you supplied appear to be the first run (of the earliest portion of this series), the later cards in the series were probably not printed at the time these earlier (low number) cards were. So there is no reason to assume the later cards were saved in this condition at all.